Paying to Play: Planned Isis Fees Rankle Some Issuers

One or more issuers are privately complaining about fees that the Isis joint venture is seeking to charge to host their payment applications in the Isis Wallet, NFC Times has learned.

The fees are about $5 per consumer account per year, sources told NFC Times. That is much more expensive than issuing plastic cards, note the sources.

Four banks or credit card companies have announced they plan to make their payment applications available for the Isis Wallet starting with trials in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Austin, Texas, planned for this summer: JPMorgan Chase, Capital One, Barclaycard US and American Express.

“It’s (NFC application) really not a replacement, it’s an addition. We still have to issue plastic cards,” one of the issuers told NFC Times, asking not to be named.

He said he believes that Isis is trying to become “profitable from day one” by charging “high fees.”

“When you’re just getting started, this is when you want to build the ecosystem.” said the issuer. “There is so much you can do with NFC. It just feels a little shortsighted how this is being rolled out.”